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Friday, September 19, 2014

This week I have been mulling over the role social media
plays in daily life. I don’t mean the silly quizzes that we all take….even if
we don’t admit to taking them. I don’t mean the oddly addicting games…..or the
sensationalized fake new stories. What
do I share? How do I share it? What do I learn?

This week I had an issue with a local businessman who has
very poor customer service and a bad attitude towards customers. Without listing specifically who or getting into
the specifics of why, I posted asking for some recommendations for alternate
providers. Within an hour, I had more
than enough recommendations and info. I’d
also called all the alternative service choices. I posted the costs I’d found in the comments
and several other people replied that they were making the switch too. Without openly trashing the local business, I’d
affected a change in my own life, saved money, and helped several more
customers find company that will hopefully treat us better and not take for
granted that being a local business means that the locals will just blindly
stay with you out of loyalty. My post was set so that only Friends could see it….not
Friends of Friends.

Later that day, I got a friend request from the local businessman….and
it quickly disappeared. I’m assuming he’d
been looking at my FB page to see if I’d posted anything about him. When he couldn’t get information that way, he
had a friend of a friend contact me to ask me what was going on…..at least I’m
assuming that’s what the “random” question out of nowhere was from someone I
don’t talk to that much was. I was just straightforward
and factual saying that towards me, the customer service had been poor and that
he didn’t seem to appreciate the customers he had very much. I worked hard to answer truthfully without
trashing him to his friend……knowing full well that the mutual friend would be
reporting back.

Several weeks ago, I saw a person who had had a bad
experience with a local business publicly flame them and trash them. It is a business that I do business with….and
I like and respect the owner. It was
hard to see negative comments about something I support. But, rather than get into an argument with
that person on the negative post, I posted positive comments and a groupon on my own wall,
and changed who could see those particular posts to exclude the person who was on
a trash and burn mission. We have mutual
friends in common. Several of my FB friends chose to give the local business
some new business. Maybe some left
because of the flaming….though I don’t think so. But, I know some joined because of the
positive comments and groupon.

Another thing I saw this week was an ex-spouse post an open
letter to the other ex. It was a train
wreck waiting to happen. The original
poster felt that posting it was “fine” because it was about feelings…..which
should make it all OK. The poster had it
set so that friends-of-friends could see it.
Friends of mine noted the debate going on when I offered the VERY
unpopular onion that it wasn’t an appropriate way to share feelings of this
sort. The original poster…and supporters….
maintained that it was OK to post negative comments that should be private
because it was all “feelings.” Inevitably, the other shoe dropped and the other
ex got wind of it and responded heavily. The train wreck happened…..with the original
poster crying….SEE how I get treated?????

I went through my own VERY traumatic situation with my older
child. During that time period, I kept
most if not all of the situation to myself.
I talked to my close friends and my family. We never sat next to each other at soccer
games or school plays…..and we had separate but equal meetings during teacher
conference week. But, we never put the
laundry out to air in our community.
Most people always commented and complimented how well we got
along. They never saw the behind doors
nasty emails and phone calls. The
custody suit that dragged on. The
lawyers. The mediators. I kept to myself that they even had the gall
to file for custody (which they lost).

Watching this interaction made me question…..what WOULD I
have done had social media available when I went through that with my
child. My sisters tease me that I post
too much. Some days, that is true. But,
would I have posted about the deeply private situation and the mess we lived
through??? Could I really have walked
the talk that I’d just preached to my FB acquaintance????

I spent some time yesterday talking about that with my
husband and he reaffirmed for me that…..No….I wouldn’t have posted inflammatory
statements and barbs and jibes. I would
have done just what I did…..limit the conversation and the info to a few close
friends and keep the private stuff just that…..private.

But, what is private?
How do we adjust our settings….internal and external…to limit what we
share? That’s something each person has to figure out and decide Every person
makes their own choices and no one setting is right for everyone.

In-person conversations, when meaning and intent are clear,
I’ll tell you most anything you’d like to ask about. In a private email or FB message…..maybe a
little less. It’s too easy for tone to be
misread. Also, it’s very easy for someone to use the written words accidentally
in a way that you don’t intend them to be used.
On my FB wall…..even less. I will
post about day to day stuff…..but I’m not going to get into the fight I had
with my husband last week. He deserves
more from me than that (and no….we didn’t actually have a fight last
week.)

Those are my settings for social media. I may slip up every now and again, and I will
probably always be changing and adjusting them.

Monday, July 7, 2014

A few months back, we were driving home from the shore and passed a roadside BBQ chicken sale at a gas station. I don't know if they do this at other places, but here....roadside/gas station BBQ chicken is AWESOME. However, money is tight and it costs about $15 for a platter......1/4 chicken, corn, bp, and some kind of bread.

So, I didn't even suggest it....but started using my smart phone to look for ideas. I ended up combining a few and came up with something that is just gosh darn awesome and a pretty good approximation.

I have made it 4 times since that day. My husband and I argue over the leftovers. I can't say that the photo does it justice, but it is finger-licking bunches of yum...and I took the photo after we ate 2 of the 4 breasts.

Roadside BBQ Chicken
Mix together the following:

2 cups white vinegar

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce (for this I use store-brand because of the volume/cost thing)

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp celery seed

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

2 tbsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp hot sauce (sriracha, Frank's, whatever you like)

Divide this in half (probably a little over a cup and a quarter is half.

Put of of the halves in a seal-able bag with 4 whole (bone-in, skin-on) chicken breasts. Let marinate for at least 2 hours. I try to go for much longer.....like 6-8 hours.

To the other half, add 1/2 cup oil and save for basting.

After marinading, put the grill on high (we have a gas grill, so that's all the grilling info I can share). Wait 15 minutes, then put the chicken on skin side down and turn down to medium. After 15 minutes, whisk the oil into the reserved liquid and baste the chicken, then flip it over (bone-side-down). Keep it that way for the remainder of the cooking, basting every 15 minutes until the internal temperature is at lease 165F. It takes about an hour.

If you want, you can baste the entire thing with a BBQ sauce of your choice for the last 5 minutes and flip so both sides get the sauce charred on.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Tomorrow....on July 4th..... my husband and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage....and almost 14 years since we met. While I truly feel that the day we met is the day our lives changed.....him putting up with me for 10 years legally warrants a HUGE recognition.

We got married on the 4th of July because the places we booked offered a discount, and on a Sunday we could have a Catholic ceremony without a full mass. We joked...and still do....that we would always have our anniversary off.....someone would be having a party.....and there would always be fireworks.

After we booked the date, we realized that the colors I'd chosen were red....white...and.....blue. Not on purpose. My dress was white with red roses embroidered on it.....and the lot of bridesmaid dresses I'd gotten were navy blue.

For me, our wedding was magical. The day was hot, no family members killed each other, we could see the fireworks from the reception, and the "worst" thing that happened was that we were locked out of both of our cars and had to borrow clothing and toothbrushes....and had no clothing on our wedding night or the morning after.

The past 10 years have been nothing like I expected.....nothing I imagined.....and exceeded anything that ever crossed my mind. There have been ups and downs, but I wouldn't change a moment.

So, for my sweet, wonderful, amazing husband.......

Ten Things from Ten Years

Our story is always being written and
re-written. Who we are together and for each other changes from one day to the
next…..from one week to another….and from year to year and beyond. Sometimes we
even change from one minute to the next.

You know when to let me be “right”….and how to
tell me when I’m wrong.

In addition to being the great stepdad I thought
you would be….you are a great father.

At the end of the day, our differences make us
stronger together than our similarities. Together we are stronger than the sum
of our parts.

We should never work on the same part of the
same project together at the same time. We make a great team in the end, but
the bits in the middle are sometimes worked out better separately

While we have some major philosophical
differences, we agree on the most important…and they are what binds us
together.

A sense of humor is key…..not only for helping
to get over the rough parts, but to help us feel “together.” You are the second
funniest person I know (me being the first…..as long as I’m laughing, it’s all
good).

I am married to my best friend….and my other
best friend approves.

You calm me and center me in a way that I never
was…and never could be….without you.

10 years of marriage….and almost 14 years
together…..we still make other people nauseated. I am proud of that fact.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

A couple of years ago, I came up with a spice rub that my family loves on pretty much any type of protein. I generally mix it up in a large batch and then rub it over whatever meat or fish I'm cooking. The sugar in it helps to caramelize the protein and provide a good sear. It works for grilling and for pan cooking.

Friday, July 19, 2013

The jury is still out on the book for me. It is very descriptively written...filling my mind with scenes and food imagery. At the end of every chapter, there is a recipe.

About a third of the way through, I found a recipe for some Tuscan white beans. In the book and the subsequent recipe, they cook the beans in a bottle in the ashes of a wood fire all day. However, that basically will never happen in my lifetime here. I love to cook, but I'm not that dedicated to the authenticity of the whole thing.

But, after reading through it, I figured out a way that I could make it work with some changes to their recipe and some changes to the cooking method.

I made it today and the smell in the house was flat out amazing. The beans were part of tonight's dinner and they frankly blew me away. The ingredients were so simple, but the flavor was outstanding.

I served the beans over some Italian bread...torn into chunks...and had some prosciutto to go with the whole Italian theme in my head.

Tuscan White Beans

1 lb dried beans

water

2 teaspoons salt

few grinds of pepper

1 tablespoon rosemary

1 teaspoon sage

4 cloves of garlic crushed

1 cup olive oil

1-1/2 cup white wine

Start by soaking the beans. I use the quick-soak method ....cover with cold water, cover pot, bring to a boil, turn off, leave covered for 1 hour, drain, rinse. Or, you could cover with water and soak overnight.

After the beans are presoaked, put in pan and cover with fresh water. I use a pressure cooker for this. With the pressure cooker, you lock the lid on, bring it to pressure, reduce heat, cook for 10 minutes, release the pressure, drain, and the beans are ready to season. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can put in any pan, cover with water and cook covered for an hour or so until the beans are tender. Both ways work equally well, the pressure cooker is just super quick.

I then put the beans in my slow cooker; added the salt, pepper, rosemary, sage, garlic, white wine, and olive oil; and cooked on high for 4 hours. And done!!!!!

If you don't have a slow cooker, you could just drain the beans (again); add in the seasonings, wine, and olive oil; add in 2 cups of water (you'll need more moisture cooking on a stovetop); and cook covered on the stove top for 1-1/2 hours.

Monday, July 8, 2013

I use my slow cooker for TONS of things. One of the really cool things I found is that
you can use it to make homemade chicken stock.

It’s super easy to do and the difference is amazing. While I certainly don’t use homemade chicken
stock for everything, it’s a really nice thing to be able to do with leftovers and it really ups the recipe results when I do.

Last week I made some using the leftovers from a
store-bought rotisserie chicken that I had picked up for a quick dinner.

Clean most of the meat off the chicken. Save the bones. If
you can’t/don’t want to do the stock right away, put the bones in a bag in the
freezer until you are ready.

Put in slow cooker.
Add a peeled and quartered onion, 2 or 3 peeled carrots, and some peeled
garlic cloves. I can’t stand celery, so
it’s never in my house, but you can add a few stalks of that too. Cover with water.

Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 6—8 hours. It will look something like the photo below. Note the difference in the deeper color to the liquid and the "cooked" look to the vegetables, etc.

When done, cool just until you can handle the crock
insert. Strain the liquid. I line my colander with paper towels (see below) and
slowly pour it through.

I stop
occasionally to discard the solids that stop the liquid from flowing through.
Replace the paper towels and re-strain a second time.

At this point, you can chill the whole container to skim the
fat off the top, or just leave it in. As you can see, there isn't a ton of fat in it. Just that small rim at the top.

The color of homemade stock is amazing. Just look at that photo above and the one below. It looks NOTHING like the watery yellow stuff
that comes from the can, cube, or powder.
And the flavor is above compare.

I divide it up into small bags with 1 cup in each bag and freeze
it. Then when I need some for a sauce or recipe, I just thaw it and use.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

This is the first year that my little guy was in school
full-day…5 days a week. I have MISSED
him terribly. So, the last several weeks, we have been bonding again. Snuggling, holding hands, playing games, etc.

But, I don’t want to just let his summer slip by without
having a ton of fun. To that end, I came
up with a list of local free or low cost activities for us to do. After I did,
I saw a list going around of 50 fun things to do in Philly. There is some overlap between my own list and
their….but I swear I didn't copy. I came up with more than 30 things on my own.

Some of the things I have chosen, are based on a few
memberships that I have. When I pick a
membership, I look at the cost and what the reciprocal memberships are. A perfect example of this is the Delaware Museum of Natural History. They offer
reciprocals at 4 VERY local places that we would have a good time at…including
the “dinosaur” museum in Philly. Make
sure you read the fine print. Does the
reciprocal membership offer free admission or do you have to pay 50% of the
entrance fee. Are there any restrictions
like day of the week or the distance from the reciprocal museum to the
residence on your ID? Are you limited to
number of children you can bring?
Because I have an only child and I usually am watching one of my friend’s
children, I always add a second child on when I fill out the membership. That way I’m not charged for the favor I am
doing my friend…but we’re still having fun.

All that said here’s the list that I came up with. If you have any other suggestions, let me
know. I could use a few more!!!

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About Me

I'm a happily married work-at-home mom with 2 boys...7 and 20. I am working to get rid of "things" in our life. I feel too held down by stuff. I also want to live more simply...by doing more for my family. My passions (outside of my family) are knitting and reading. After growing up in a family of all girls, I have lost the estrogen battle. It's me and the 2 cats against the 3 men and the dog. Follow me on Pintrest!